Luxury travel news and reviews for Mexico, Central America, and South America

Latin America Real Estate: Top Retirement Havens

My September issue of International Living arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago and this is the one that has their annual ranking of the Top Retirement Havens in the world. As usual, Latin America dominates the rankings, with 4 of the top 5 and 7 of the top 10.

A list like this is always going to be a bit subjective, but they take into account 8 different factors when tallying up the scores, like special benefits, cost of living, infrastructure, and safety, for example.

At the top this year was Ecuador, combining bargain prices with an excellent climate and a good quality of life. Beaches, mountains, jungles, and the U.S. dollar as the currency—what’s not to like? See our Ecuador luxury travel section for more on this attractive country.

Next up was Mexico, where I probably spend more of my time than anywhere else. Besides it being close and easy to get to, the country has an excellent variety of real estate options, a decent health care system, good roads, and a reasonable cost of living outside a few gringo hotspots. See more in our Mexico luxury travel section.

Panama and Uruguay were the next two in line, edging out Italy at #5. See stories on both in our Latin America real estate section.

Other Latin American countries making the top-10 in this retirement index were Brazil (good beachfront prices), Argentina (still good deals on Buenos Aires apartments and Mendoza vineyards), and Costa Rica.

Belize, Chile, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Honduras were further down the list, but remember that there’s only one list that really matters when it’s time to buy: yours.